Israel gives Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital one hour to evacuate: Doctor | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Thousands of displaced people and patients, many in critical condition, do not have ambulances or a means to move.

Israeli forces have given doctors, patients and displaced people at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza one hour to evacuate the compound, a medical source told Al Jazeera.

The doctor said it was “impossible” as the facility, which has been bombarded and besieged by Israeli troops for days, houses about 7,000 people, including patients who are in critical condition.

“They do not have any ambulances to transfer the patients and premature babies to the south [of Gaza],” said Al Jazeera’s Youmna ElSayed, reporting from Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Saturday.

“This is what he called ‘a crisis’, to ask them to evacuate in one hour.”

Those in al-Shifa include at least 300 patients, some or most of them in serious or critical condition, as well as thousands of displaced families.

It also includes “at least 35 premature babies who already for eight days now have been out of their incubators because of the lack of oxygen and the lack of electricity”, ElSayed said. There were 39 babies who had been left without incubators; four died late on Friday and five are severely ill now, our correspondent added.

“There is no transportation means in Gaza City and the northern parts because of a lack of fuel. So people are expected to evacuate on foot. And doctors are telling us it’s impossible to evacuate with this many people on foot.”

The Israeli army instructed people to evacuate through al-Rashid street, “not the usual street or route that people evacuating to the south are supposed to take, they usually take Salah al-Din street”, ElSayed said.

The hospital has been without food, water, electricity and oxygen for at least a week, while Israeli troops and tanks raided the facility over the last couple of days.

Israel claimed Hamas has a command centre underneath the hospital, but found no evidence to support its claim. Hamas and hospital staff have always rejected the Israeli assertions.

This is a developing story. More to follow.